''Plectropomus'', commonly known as the coral groupers, is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of marine

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fish or actinopterygians, is a class of bony fish that comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. They are so called because of their lightly built fins made of webbings of sk ...

grouper Groupers are a diverse group of marine ray-finned fish in the family Epinephelidae, in the order Perciformes. Groupers were long considered a subfamily of the seabasses in Serranidae, but are now treated as distinct. Not all members of this f ...

s from the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

Epinephelinae Groupers are a diverse group of marine Actinopterygii, ray-finned fish in the family Epinephelidae, in the order Perciformes. Groupers were long considered a subfamily of the seabasses in Serranidae, but are now treated as distinct. Not all m ...

, part of the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Serranidae Serranidae is a large family (biology), family of fishes belonging to the order Perciformes. The family contains about 450 species in 65 genera, including the sea basses and the groupers (subfamily Epinephelinae). Although many species are small, ...

, which also includes the anthias and sea basses. They are found in the

Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

region.

Habitat and biology

The ''Plectropomus'' coral groupers are ecologically similar to the species in the genera '' Cephalopholis'' and ''

Mycteroperca ''Mycteroperca'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fish, groupers from the subfamily Epinephelinae, part of the Family (biology), family Serranidae, which also includes the Anthiinae, anthias and sea basses. They are predatory fish, largely associa ...

'', the latter being regarded as the Atlantic and eastern Pacific equivalents of the coral groupers. They are large groupers, with some species attaining total lengths of at least , They prefer shallow tropical and subtropical waters where there are coral reefs and are less sedentary than the groupers in the genera ''

Epinephelus ''Epinephelus'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fish, groupers from the subfamily Epinephelinae, part of the family Serranidae, which also includes the anthias and sea basses. They are predatory fish, largely associated with reefs and are fo ...

'' and ''Cephalopholis''. They are predatory species, preying largely on fish.

Distribution

''Plectropomus'' coral groupers are confined to the Indo-Pacific region where they are found from the

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

and the east coast of Africa as far south as South Africa and east into the

Western Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

as far as

Polynesia Polynesia ( , ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of more than 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are called Polynesians. They have many things in ...

, north to Japan and south to Australia.

Utilization

''Plectropomus'' coral groupers are very important to artisanal fisheries wherever they are found and they are caught using hook and line by spear fishing and trapping, however they are a frequent cause of ''

Ciguatera Ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP), also known as ciguatera, is a foodborne illness caused by eating tropical reef fish contaminated with ciguatoxins. Such individual fish are said to be ciguatoxic. Symptoms may include diarrhea, vomiting, numbness ...

'' poisoning among consumers of their flesh.

Species

The following eight species are classified within the genus ''Plectropomus'': Other authorities recognise '' Plectropomus marisrubri'', which

Fishbase FishBase is a global species database of fish species (specifically finfish). It is the largest and most extensively accessed online database on adult finfish on the web.

treats as a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

of ''P. pessuliferus'', as a valid species., while others as treat it as a subspecies of ''P. pessuliferus'', ''P.p. maristrubri''.

References

{{Authority control Epinephelini Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Ray-finned fish genera